Her Heaven
by kelly4
Summary: Clark and Lois? Who would have thought? Not them. But then there's that one part of that 'destiny' of Clark's - the true one in his life . And Clark's not sure he wants to face it, because what if she isn't it?
1. Chapter 1

**February 2009**

It was times like this when Clark hated the word 'destiny'.

Because he wasn't sure exactly when it happened. He only knew he didn't think he could survive without it. Without her.

Oh sure, there had been moments along the way. Since the day they had met, there was a connection. Even though he hadn't known who he was. And when his, as she put it, 'synapses were all firing again', one of the only things he remembered?

Was her. A virtual stranger. And yet? More familiar to him than people he had known his whole life.

But for years they had danced around it. Using their affectionate brand of snark to hide their growing feelings for each other.

Not that they were fooling anyone. Anyone but themselves, that is.

He hid from the reality behind his far too long relationship with Lana. She hid behind various relationships over the years. And he grinned to himself as he remembered her accusing him of 'lobbing a grenade' at every guy she dated. At the time, he couldn't completely understand, or more to the point, wouldn't let himself admit why he did that.

After his showdown with Lex, he had wandered. Trying to figure out what was next.

But Metropolis was calling. _She _was calling.

And for the first time, in a long time, instead of overanalyzing it, Clark listened to what his heart was telling him.

It was time to go home.

He didn't think he'd ever forget walking into the Daily Planet that day. After dropping off his application, the application she had left him months ago, he went to find her. He could still see her sitting there, chewing on her pencil, her long hair a few shades darker than he remembered.

_It seemed like hours, but it was actually only a few minutes that he stood there, watching that trademark concentration as she scribbled away. Her desk, as usual, looked like a hurricane had hit it. Which made sense, because she was a force of nature herself. Once Lois Lane stormed into your life? You were never the same._

_And that wasn't a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all._

_As if sensing someone was watching her, she looked up and noticed him standing there._

_"Smallville?"_

_She looked shocked for a moment, then a smile lit up her face as she bolted out of her chair and ran to him, wrapping her arms around him._

_The warmth of her hug hadn't lasted long though. Within seconds he felt her fist, as usual, whacking at his arm._

_"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you know how worried I've...", she paused, catching herself, "we've been?"_

She had been thrilled that he'd finally taken her up on her suggestion to work there, feeling of course, once again, that she had been right.

It had taken mere seconds for them to fall back into their normal pattern. A little snark here, some banter there. But underneath it all, there was a growing affection, not to mention a serious attraction, developing between them.

Which, of course, they ignored.

Ironically, it took a friend to open Clark's eyes.

He didn't think he'd ever forget that day. He had been at the Planet for about a month. Working on some research, he had headed over to see Lois and ask her a question when he was stopped dead in his tracks.

Oliver.

He hadn't expected to see his old friend back in Metropolis. And he certainly hadn't expected to see him buzzing around Lois.

Or to see Lois smiling at him.

It was at that moment, the moment he realized he wanted nothing more than to walk over to Oliver and throw him clear to Australia, that it hit him.

Clark Kent was in love with Lois Lane.


	2. Chapter 2

The small black leather box felt somehow huge in his hands.

Or maybe it was the connotation of what was inside.

Closing his eyes, Clark leans back against his sofa and sighs. He reaches up, loosening his tie, and thinks back to the hours after he finally admitted his own feelings for Lois. To himself, anyway.

_"Well, well. All grown up, huh Clark? Suit and all."_

_Clark rolls his eyes at Oliver's remark, stepping into the apartment._

_"I just stopped by to thank you."_

_"For?"_

_"For helping Chloe."_

_"No need to thank for me that. I was glad to do it. Chloe's a very valuable member of my team."_

_Clark nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking down. But not before he caught the slight grin on Oliver's face._

_Why did he have the feeling Oliver knew the real reason he was here?_

_"You know, you could have done this today, at the Planet. Saved_ _yourself the trip, if that was all you wanted."_

_Clark's head snaps up. After seeing him with Lois and the feeling the shock of realizing his feelings for her, Clark had bolted in the opposite direction._

_"You saw me?"_

_"Yeah. And let me tell you, green, while it may be my color? Is most definitely not yours."_

_Clark bristled slightly, Oliver's knowing tone getting under his skin._

_"I don't know what you're talking about," he responds, which only elicits a chuckle from Oliver._

_"Sure you don't."_

_"So…," Clark pauses, walking over to the window and looking out, trying to appear nonchalant. "How long are you gonna be in Metropolis?"_

_Oliver shakes his head in response. "I see nothing's changed."_

_"What the hell does that mean?"_

_"It means, as usual, you're being passive. Why don't you ask what you really wanna ask Clark? Did I come here to win Lois back?"_

_Clark feels heat crawl up his neck, part anger and part embarrassment at Oliver being right. Keeping his secret his entire life had caused a certain passivity in him, and his relationships throughout the years, particularly his one with Lana, had done nothing to quell that. If anything, it made him more passive, as he constantly worried about hurting her, or disappointing her. He could almost hear Lois telling him, in that moment, to 'trust his gut', to get in the game. Grinning, he realizes that there's nothing she would want more than for him to stand up to her ex._

_"Did you?"_

_"And what if I did?" Oliver asks._

_Clark finally turned to face him and with confidence Oliver had rarely seen from him, stared him down._

_"Then, you'd have a fight on your hands."_

_Oliver nods, and Clark's surprised to see a smile on his supposed rival's face._

_"Good. It's about time."_

_"About time for what?"_

_"For you to stand up for what you want Clark. So…how did it feel?"_

_"How did what feel?"_

_"How did it feel the moment you realized what some of us have known for awhile? That you have feelings for Lois?"_

_Realizing in that moment that Oliver really had no intentions of going after Lois, but that this had been one of his little 'tests' he liked to throw at him, Clark's demeanor relaxed somewhat._

_"Confusing. Terrifying," Clark pauses, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Amazing."_

_"And I'm going to take it that this little revelation has yet to be made to her."_

_"Actually, I just sorta realized it today."_

_Oliver nods. "When you saw me talking to her. Yeah, I could feel the daggers shooting out of your eyes at me from across the room. Look, for what it's worth Clark? I care about Lois. But I have no intentions towards her other than gaining back her friendship. She was right, all those months ago," Oliver said, in almost a wistful voice, "we don't belong together. But that doesn't mean we can't be friends. Is that gonna be a problem for you?"_

_"No," Clark responds, feeling the truth in Ollie's words. "You're talking like I actually have a shot at this."_

_"Believe me…you do. What you have to do now is stop waiting on the sidelines, stop waiting for that perfect moment, and go after her."_

After he had left Oliver's apartment that night, he had walked around Metropolis, thinking about what Oliver had said to him.

What if she didn't feel the same way?

What if they lost their friendship in the process?

So he'd walked. For hours. Mentally rehearsing all the different ways he could tell her how he felt. Determined, for once to, as Oliver had said, to get off the sidelines.

It was the middle of the night when he finally stood in front of her door. He had contemplated waiting until morning, but he found that the thought of going back to his small apartment without her knowing that night was unacceptable to him.

_He had knocked a few different times, knowing she was probably out like a light. When she finally answered the door, after of course, looking through the peephole to see who it was, he smiled at the sight in front of him._

_Wearing her faded pastry pajamas, her floppy old bunny slippers, and her hair up in that messy ponytail, complete with many strands having come loose and hanging wildly around her face, he couldn't remember when she had looked more beautiful._

_Scrunching her eyes, trying to wake herself up, she leaned against the door._

_"Smallville? It's 2 AM. This better be good," she grumbled._

_"Can I come in?"_

_She wearily held out her arm, motioning for him to enter. She closed the door and leaned against it._

_As he looked at her, he found that every word he had rehearsed in his head, the perfect declaration of his feelings to her, had left him._

_"Smallville?" she practically yelled, seeing he had zoned out somewhat on her. "Spit it out!"_

_And then he did something he never expected to do. Instead of pouring his heart out in well rehearsed words…_

_He kissed her._

_Wrapping his arms around her, Clark pulled her tightly to him. After the momentary shock, he felt her lips relax against his, and felt her arms snake gently around his neck._

_When he finally let her go, he found her staring at him, her expression a mixture of shock and confusion. Two emotions he could well relate to on this particular day._

_"Lois…"_

_"Clark? Shut up."_

_And with that, she tightened her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss of her own._

Since that night…things had been, well? Them. That was the best way to put it. Their relationship wasn't normal or easy. But it seemed necessary, for both of them. Two people, so different, yet so alike in some ways.

What he loved most about it, though, was that in addition to loving each other, they also remained friends. Sounds strange, but it was the truth. They still bantered as they always had, still teased each other mercilessly, but at the heart of it was two people who felt a connection that seemed to have always been there. From the moment they met.

They had been together for almost five months now. Five of the best months he could ever remember having in his young life. She challenged him like no one else he knew, and yet understood when to pull back with him. And in turn, he helped open her heart. See, Lois, she was a tough one. Having grown up as a military brat, constantly moving, she had a difficult time with relationships, with letting people in. But she let him in, and for that, he felt like the luckiest man in the world. Because Lois, for all her tough exterior and her brassy attitude, was no doubt the most loving and loyal woman he had met. And he'd always known that, having watched her go to bat for those she cared for over the years, including him and his family. But she wasn't an easy nut to crack, and the fact that she had, for him, well…even his abilities didn't make him feel as special as knowing he was the man Lois Lane had started breaking down her walls for.

Which brings him to where he is now. Holding this box.

See, his destiny was so…overwhelming. There seemed to be so many different aspects to it, a fact the astounding Kawatche caves attested to. And in those caves, he had learned, he would find out who his soulmate was. The true one in his life.

And this box? This box held the answer.

Only now, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.


	3. Chapter 3

He didn't even really know what drove him to dig out this box tonight.

If he had his way? If he could follow his own heart?

Lois Lane would never leave his side again.

Not that it didn't still shock him at times when he realized that. And when he realized she felt the same way.

But there had been so many times in his life when he didn't feel like he had 'his way'. Where he couldn't follow his own heart.

Which is why he feels so anxious, gently holding this box. What if Jor-El had a different idea about his 'destiny'?

Clark remembers back to a few years ago. The box had been sitting up in his loft. He wasn't even sure why it had been out, but it was. And Lana had found it. She had opened it, inspected it, and then just kind of shrugged and closed the box.

And that was it.

At the time, it had hurt him. He had thought, mistakenly, for so long that Lana was the one meant for him. He had once told his mother he couldn't imagine loving anyone else.

Lois, she had sort of snuck up on him. More like, snuck into him. Because that's what she did. She got under his skin, made him think. Made him see things in a completely different way. And before he knew it, he was unconsciously seeking her out. Their friendship grew as the years had gone on, and it was now, when he looked back, that he couldn't remember ever _not _loving her.

He isn't sure what he expects to happen. Maybe nothing. After all, his life was nothing if not full of the unexpected.

"Look, I told you that I want exclusivity, and if you think I'm kidding around…"

Clark's head snaps up as he hears her voice coming closer. He slips the box between him and the arm of the sofa as her keys jangle in the door. A big step for them, giving each other the key to the other's place. Especially for him, considering he had yet to tell her everything. Not because he didn't want to, or because he didn't trust her, because he did. He trusted her implicitly and he knew that his secret would be safe with her. It was just…she made him feel normal. And he thought a part of that was because she didn't know his alien origins.

Selfish? Maybe. But he wanted to hold on to that feeling…just a little bit longer.

She barrels through the door of his apartment, glancing at him and giving him a quick smile before turning her attention back to person she was speaking to on the other end of her cellphone.

"It's your call buddy. But I can tell you this, you want your story told? Then the Daily Planet is the only paper you should want it in. But I'm not gonna beg. You want the best, you know where to find me."

And with that, she snapped her phone shut while simultaneously gently dropping of her black computer bag to the floor.

"He still giving you a hard time?"

"What gave it away?" she responds, rolling her eyes. "You're up next, you know. I did the whole 'bad cop' bit, now you gotta do the whole 'boy scout' routine with him. We'll have him eating out of our hands in no time."

"And give Perry the interview he's been dying for."

"Not just Perry, every paper in the country is after the LuthorCorp's latest whistleblower. Lex's disappearance really wreaked havoc on that company."

"Not that you aren't enjoying the benefits," he responds, grinning and pulling her down next to him on the couch.

"You mean _we_ are enjoying them. We are partners, Kent," she smiles in return, leaning over and planting a soft kiss on his lips, a kiss he is more than happy to return.

Within a moment, she jumps up and heads to his bedroom, chatting on about Jimmy's latest assignment and how she needs to make sure they get him to take the photographs they're going to need for the interview. He just shakes his head, used to her sudden movements, happily used to her 'noise' as she rambles on about one thing or another.

Clark reaches next to him and gently slides the box up from his hiding place. He carefully opens it, seeing the bracelet nestled safely inside.

He already knew she was the love of his life. He knew she was the one for him. And that's all that _should_ matter. And it was all that did matter. To him.

However, the responsibility he had been given by being sent to Earth, the destiny Jor-El was prepared to train him for, to lay out for him, that felt entirely overwhelming. And decidedly out of his control.

At least, that's what he felt now. In this moment.

"Just give me this, Jor-El. Just let me have her," he whispers, gently closing the box.

"Who are you talking to?"

So lost in thought is Clark, he doesn't hear Lois bound back into the room, having changed out of her work clothes into a pale yellow tank top and pajama pants. He looks up at her, slightly startled.

"Huh? I…no one."

"You alright, Smallville?"

"What? Yeah…yeah I'm fine."

Lois nods, not completely convinced. She reads his moods pretty well, always has, and sees something's not quite right with him. Leaning back against the sofa, scooting a bit closer to him, she gives him a quick once over with her eyes, trying to decipher what was going on…when her eyes fall on the box.

Clark notices where she's looking and realizes she had caught him so off guard when she came back into the room that he hadn't slipped it back into its hiding place. He had wanted to do this in his normal, Clark way. Thinking it out, making sure everything was exactly how he wanted it to be. Of course, Lois, being the complete opposite, tended to cause his best laid plans to go out the window.

But, he smiles to himself when it hits him. He had taken the leap and followed his heart the night he had gone to see her to confess his feelings for her. Instead of all the romantic words he had thought through and practiced over and over, he had simply taken her in his arms and kissed her.

So maybe Lois was onto something. Maybe he just had to take the leap. Again.

"Is that for me?" she asks, a grin lighting up her face.

He takes a deep breath, his fingers tightening slightly around the box.

"Yeah," he says softly, gently placing the box in her hand. "It is."


	4. Chapter 4

She takes the box from him, suddenly aware of the tension radiating off him.

"What's wrong?"

A grin tugs at the corner of his mouth, never failing to be amazed at how she read him so well.

"Nothing," he lies, sort of anyway. He wanted her to have this. And as he handed it to her, he realizes suddenly that it doesn't matter. It belongs to her. In his heart, he believes that.

But it also occurrs to him, as he looks at her fingers gently grasping the box, that should anything…_happen_, well, he had put himself in the position of possibly having a very long talk with her tonight.

A talk he knew they had to have. And one, he thought, with a touch of surprise, that he'd never really willingly had with anyone. Everyone else who knew about his secret, they knew because they had found out by accident. They had caught him doing something. Or they had been so suspicious they just kept searching until they figured it out. He had just filled in the blanks after the fact.

But with her, he knew without a doubt, he wanted to be the one to tell her _before_ she found out from anyone else, or before she caught him using his abilities in any way.

Or before that bracelet hit her wrist.

It's at that moment that he reaches over and takes the box from her, receiving a startled look in response.

"Oh, what? So now it's not for me?"

"It is. It's just that…we need to talk first."

Taking a deep breath, he sets the box down on the table in front of them, then leans back, his body turned slightly towards hers.

"You know, you always screw up my best laid plans, Lois. Make me rethink the way I'm planning on doing something."

"It's a gift," she says. "Planning is overrated anyway, sometimes you just gotta dive in and see if you can handle the current."

"You taught me that, you know. And while, I don't always agree that it's the best option," he pauses, looking pointedly at her, amusement in his eyes as he is clearly thinking of her "do first, think later" attitude in life, particularly in her job, which often gets her into trouble, "I know I tend to overthink things. So, here goes. I'm diving in."

She gives him a slightly confused look. "Okay."

Clark clears this throat, shifting slightly, and Lois picks up on his nervous energy, suddenly feeling a tad nervous herself.

"I, um…well, I'm not from around here."

"Smallville isn't _that_ far away," she responds, her confusion growing.

"I'm not from Smallville, at least not originally."

"Yeah, I know you were adopted."

"There's more to it than that. My parents, my adoptive parents, they found me in Smallville."

"They found you? I don't get it…what were you like left on their doorstep or something?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what?"

"If you stop with the questions, maybe I could tell you," he says, a hint of both frustration and admiration in his voice. She wasn't Mad Dog Lane for nothing.

"Well, Clark, you're being awfully cryptic, and you know me well enough to know that I'm not just going to sit here while you skirt around whatever you have to tell me…spit it out or I'm just gonna…"

"Lois!"

Seeing immediately the look in his eyes, that whatever he was going to tell her was extremely important to him, to them, she snapped her mouth shut. She raised her hand in a motion for him to continue.

He roughly runs his hand through his hair, collecting himself a bit before continuing.

"They didn't find me on their doorstep. They found me…in a cornfield."

As the words hit her, he could see her eyes widen slightly. It was almost amusing to see the light go on suddenly as a connection was made and she bit her lip, trying valiantly to keep it from coming out of her mouth, wanting to let him continue.

"Yeah…just like you did."

"That's an…interesting coincidence," she chimes in, unable to help herself, eliciting a small smile from Clark. "Sorry. You really can't expect me to sit here and not say a word, Smallville. But I'll try to keep the interruptions to a minimum, okay?"

"You? Yeah, right," he says, chuckling for a brief moment. It was a welcome moment, because even though Lois had no idea what he was going to tell her, she sensed the gravity of it, could see it in his eyes. She decides to try and be patient, feeling his hesitation. He needed a moment, she could see that. Not that it wasn't driving her crazy.

After a minute or two of silence, Lois gently reaches over and grazes her fingertips against his cheek.

"Clark…whatever you have to tell me, it'll be okay."

He closes his eyes momentarily at her touch before continuing.

"My parents, the Kents, they found me on the day of the first meteor shower. Their truck…Dad had lost control of it …they got caught driving during the shower…and they went off the road. And they found me."

"Why were you, a little boy, in a cornfield by yourself to begin with, let alone during a meteor shower?"

"I wasn't there before the meteor shower," he responds, looking directly into her eyes as he continues. "My ship, my _spaceship_ landed there during the meteor shower."


	5. Chapter 5

She blinks at him, shaking her head slightly.

"I'm sorry? Did you say your…_spaceship_?"

Clark nods, watching her face closely, trying to read ever flicker of emotion that was scurrying across it. There was always a huge element of nervousness when he had to reveal this secret, and this time it seemed even more daunting considering the person he was telling was, in his mind and his heart, the person he wanted to spend his life with.

"I'm from a planet called Krypton. My parents, my biological parents, they sent me here. The planet was destroyed. They sent me here just before…"

"To save you," she interjects quietly.

He nods, giving her a moment to digest the revelation he had laid on her.

Leaning back against the sofa, she looks at him.

"Remember this moment, Smallville."

Slightly relieved to hear her call him by the nickname that at first, had annoyed him, but now he found affectionate, he gives her a questioning look.

"Why?"

" 'Cause I'm not speechless too often."

"Okay," he says, unable to help the small grin that appears on his lips. "I'm not exactly done yet, though."

"There's more?"

"There's more."

And, with the fear that she would run screaming from the room behind him, Clark begins to tell her about his abilities. He watches her eyes widen at the x-ray vision and his super hearing (prompting Lois to proclaim how jealous she is, because those were things any reporter would kill for – though Clark swore to her he never used them to get a story). Deciding to demonstrate his superspeed, he dashes out and brings her a coffee, just the way she likes it, in about 2 minutes flat. Seeing the faint glow of admiration in her eyes, he gently boasts that it would have been faster, but the barista at the Beanery was a little slow. He tells her about his super strength, relating the story of how shocked his parents had been when he'd lifted up a tractor like it was nothing more than a feather at the tender age of six.

"And, I'm supposed to have the ability to fly. Though I haven't quite perfected it yet. I can jump though. Actually, I guess leap is more like it. Pretty far, too."

With that, Lois sets her coffee down, a strange look passing over her features. She looks at him quizzically for a moment, almost like she was weighing her next words carefully.

"Are we talking like, leaping over buildings kind of leaping?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"It's just…I've had this dream, at least, I think it's a dream, a few times over the past couple of years. Ever since that Valentine's Day, remember, Lois gone wild? You and I are on the roof of the Daily Planet, and then suddenly we're flying through the air and we land on Oliver's terrace," she pauses, "Maybe it wasn't a dream."

Clark swallows hard, knowing another truth is about to come out, and not knowing if she'll take this one as well as she seems to have taken the whole 'your boyfriend is an alien from another planet' thing. Which, is ironic, considering the gravity of that secret as opposed to this one. However, this one may matter more to Lois, considering what had almost happened between them that night.

"It wasn't."

She looks at him strangely for a second, then her eyes widen with realization.

"You _remember_?"

Clearing his throat, she sees him reach up for his tie – still being dressed in his work clothes – tugging at it a bit uncomfortably.

"I remember. The lipstick you were wearing…it had some kind of aphrodisiac in it that effected you and your memory. But that's not what affected me."

Seeing her eyes narrow, he could tell he would have to do some fast talking.

"There were also meteor rocks in the lipstick."

"Red meteor rocks," Lois says absently, as she recalls what the woman who had made the lipstick told her.

"Right…it's also called kryptonite."

"Kryptonite…as in Krypton?"

"Yeah...they're actually pieces of my home planet. And there are different colors, they all affect me differently. The green ones, they make me sick, can actually kill me if I'm exposed to them long enough."

He notices a worried look pass over her face at that. "And the red?"

"They um…well I guess the best way to put it is they lower my inhibitions."

"So…Clark gone wild?"

"Basically."

"Why didn't you tell me you remembered?"

"It just seemed, at the time, that it would have made things more awkward for us…if I told you I remembered and you hadn't. Besides, I wasn't exactly proud of myself, especially with how I acted when we crashed Lana's party."

Lois nods, remembering what Chloe had told her about that. "There isn't anything else you failed to tell me about that night…is there?"

"Lois, we didn't. I didn't lie about that."

She nods slowly in response. "So…how did we end up leaping over buildings in a single bound?"

Clark is stunned for a moment, recalling her using the exact same words that night, but then a small groan escapes his lips. Remembering what, or more to the point, who had spurred on his showing off for her, he knew he'd never hear the end it.


	6. Chapter 6

"You know, is that really important?" Clark says, desperately hoping she'll think it isn't.

"Uh, well since you seem to want to change the subject pretty badly, yeah, I think it is."

Sighing, he leans back against the sofa. It totally figures Lois would dwell on this, and not the fact that he'd told her was an alien with superpowers.

"I was trying to impress you," he says quickly, eliciting a laugh from Lois.

"Showing off, huh? Why? I mean, from what Chloe told me, I was pretty much head over heels for you from that lipstick."

"You were," he affirms quietly.

"So why the big show?"

He shrugs. "I dunno. Sometimes red kryptonite does that to me," he says, hoping that will be enough of an answer, but knowing, with her, it won't be.

Sensing there's something he's not telling her, something he doesn't _want_ to tell her, Lois presses further.

"We jumped from the Daily Planet, right?"

"Yeah," he says, and Lois picks up on his wary tone.

"Where'd we land?"

"Lois, I just told you I'm from another planet," he says, a hint of exasperation in his tone.

"Yes, you did."

"And _this_ is what you're focusing on?"

"Well, seeing as you seem very reluctant to answer me, I can only guess that means you're hiding something. Something that I definitely would want to know, being as I was a part of it. Don't worry, though, I still have _plenty_ of questions about the whole space thing. So, I'll ask again. Where did we land? In my dream it was at Oliver's. Is that true?"

Rolling his eyes, both in frustration and realization that he's not going to get out of his, he finally mumbles, confirming, "It was Oliver's."

"What?"

"We landed at Oliver's apartment," he says, only a bit louder this time, but seeing the look that suddenly comes over Lois' face, he knows she heard him.

Her wide eyed stare quickly turns into a gleeful laugh, taking Clark by surprise because that's definitely _not_ the reaction he expected to his admission.

"Oh my God. You were _jealous_ of Oliver!"

Feeling the heat creep up the back of his neck, he crosses his arms over his chest stubbornly and avoids all eye contact with her.

"I just didn't know any other place to land," he grumbles in an attempt to dissuade her from her all too accurate guess.

"Oh right, Smallville, because there aren't any other rooftops in Metropolis," she responds sarcastically, still giggling. "Just admit it, you were jealous!"

"If I admit it, will you drop it?"

"Maybe."

"Why is it so important to you?"

"Because it is!"

"Not good enough."

Narrowing her eyes and biting the side of her lip – he always loves when she does that – she responds in a slightly teasing tone, "Fine. I'll confess if you do."

He takes a moment and glances over at her, the daring expression on her face making his pulse race just a bit faster. Deciding to take her up on her challenge, he turns slightly, raising his eyes to meet hers.

"Fine. I was jealous of Oliver. Your turn."

Lois grins victoriously at this statement before, being true to her word, beginning her own confession.

"Okay. I'm not normally a petty person but I do get a kick out of the fact that while you were supposedly pining for Smallville's perfect little pink princess, you were, in fact, fighting off the green monster, which, I guess is strangely appropriate considering, with regards to Oliver and me."

This time, it's Clark's turn to chuckle.

"What?"

"Smallville's perfect little pink princess? Gee Lois, sounds like I wasn't the only one with jealousy issues."

"Please. I could _so_ take Lana Lang," she retorts, and Clark silently notes the lack of denial on her part.

"No doubt," he responds, more than a little pleased that her feelings for him seem to go as far back as his for her, even though neither had been remotely ready at that time to fully admit them to themselves, let alone each other.

They sit in silence for a few moments, a silence Clark is relieved to find is a comfortable one, particularly in light of the night's revelations.

"So," she ventures, erasing the quiet between them, "it's …a lot to take in."

Clark nods in agreement. "I know."

"Which…is probably why I got on the whole Valentine's rehash. I just…I guess I needed a minute to process it all."

"Only a minute, huh?" he says, his tone slightly teasing.

"I _am_ Lois Lane. I don't get thrown off my game for long," she reminds him, a hint of a smile on her face. "I do have one question, though."

"Just one?"

"Well, no, I actually have about a billion questions. But, just one, for now anyway."

"Okay."

"Why tonight?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's kind of out of the blue."

"I'm not really sure there is a perfect time to tell your girlfriend you're an intergalactic traveler," he responds dryly.

She chuckles lightly at that. "Granted."

"You know, you're the first person I've told. Willingly, anyway."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I wanted you to hear it from me before you found out any other way."

Lois nods, and reaches out to brush some wayward hair that had fallen over his forehead out of his eyes.

"Thank you."

"Thank _you_ for not running screaming from the room," he answers, his light tone belying the very real fear that Lois could sense in him. A fear he must have to live with on a daily basis, she realizes with a hint of sadness.

"Did you really think I would?"

He looks at her for a long moment, a smile lifting the corner of his lips.

"No," he says softly. "And as for why tonight, honestly I don't know. I didn't plan it. I've been hanging out with you too long apparently, because I'm becoming impulsive."

"Hey, don't knock it," she quips lightly, moving closer to him and reaching over to take his hand. Intertwining her fingers with his, she gently places them both in her lap, a familiar gesture with a significance not lost on Clark given what he had told her tonight. For all of Lois' loud and blustery ways, it was always her quiet affection that seemed to speak volumes.

They were okay.

"Is it lonely for you?" she asks quietly. "Knowing you're home planet is just…gone?"

He finds himself slightly startled by her question, mostly because he couldn't remember anyone ever asking him that. Sure, he thought about it a lot, but when the few people that knew had found out about his origins, they were mostly curious about his abilities.

But she was concerned about _him_. And in that moment, he didn't think he could love her more.

"Sometimes. If I let myself really think about it, it can be kind of overwhelming."

"The responsibility," she states simply, nodding slightly in understanding.

"Yeah. And, I know I have people here who love me, who care about me…but growing up, there were times when I felt, I don't know…I guess…disconnected. Like I didn't belong."

As he finishes, he looks up at her and notices the tears in her eyes at his words.

"Not so much anymore, though. I used to resent it all so much, my abilities, not being human. I wished for so long just to be _normal_. I resisted every attempt my biological father made to teach me about my Kryptonian heritage. I just wanted to be like everyone else, you know?"

She nods in understanding. "So, what changed?"

"I guess…I grew up. And I realized that my biological parents gave me up so I could have a chance at life, even if it had to be on a different planet without them. Throwing that away…it would be disrespecting the sacrifice they made for me."

"So basically, you stopped feeling sorry for yourself?" she asks, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Pretty much," he responds, a brief smile flirting on his lips.

"I thought I noticed a distinct decline in the number of mopefests you've indulged in the past couple of years," she teases.

"Thanks to you," he says softly, gently squeezing her hand.

"Now wait a minute, I can take the credit for the downturn in broodiness for the last five months or so but…"

"Way longer than that," he interjects, cutting her off. "You were always…different, Lo. I had grown up in this protective bubble, which was understandable I guess. No one knew about me, really, except my parents and a little later, Pete, but he had moved away by the time you showed up. To everyone else, I was just the good-natured, polite son of Jonathan and Martha Kent. But the minute I met you, you not only popped that bubble, you shattered it into a million pieces. And it annoyed me and it frustrated me but…I hated it when you weren't around. Not that I admitted that to anyone," he says, receiving a smile from her in response. "You made me see things, think about things, in a completely different way and more than that, you refused to indulge in, as you so eloquently called them, my pity parties. And I think," he continues, "meeting you, in a way, it made me start to accept who I am."

"Clark, you had amnesia when we met," she counters.

"Well, it wasn't exactly amnesia. I was kind of taken over by my Kryptonian identity. Kal-El."

"Wait, Kal-El?" she asks, and Clark nods as he sees the hint of recognition in her eyes.

"Yeah, the same Kal-El that killer couple was looking for a few years back. It's my Kryptonian name. When you found me in the cornfield, I had just been sent back. I, well, Clark anyway, for lack of a better explanation, was still in there, just buried pretty deep inside. When, as you put it, my synapses were all firing again, I didn't remember much from my time as Kal-El. Only two things, actually."

"What?"

"I remembered flying. And I remembered you. At the time, I wasn't sure why only those two things stuck with me, but now I think I know. The flying, well, I'm afraid of heights, but as Kal-El, I flew without any hesitation."

Her eyes wide, she can't resist asking, "How did it feel?"

"Amazing," he replies, wonder in his voice, "and even though I haven't quite mastered it yet…it's that memory that makes me wanna try."

"Makes sense," she says. "So, why do you think you remembered me?"

He looks at her for a moment, quietly taking her in before answering.

"Because you were fearless. The truth is, Lois, that Kal-El is a part of me, of who I am. And I never wanted to accept it because I was scared of it, scared of what that part of me could do. But you weren't. You just took it all in stride that night, and when I met you later on, when I was back to being, well…me, you took that in stride too. I'd known you less than twenty four hours and already you accepted _all_ of me, without even knowing the whole story. After living with this secret for years, I hadn't even come close to where you were in a day."

"And heaven forbid you let me win, right?" she teases lightly.

Clark can't help but laugh at her remark. "Something like that. Not that it happened overnight. I still resisted Jor-El's attempts at starting my training."

"Jor-El?"

"My biological father."

"Yeah, you mentioned that before, but I thought you said that both your biological parents died?"

"They did," he answers, only seeing the confusion on Lois' face grow by the second. "But I can still talk to him…well, not really _him_ obviously…or, I could anyway. Before the Fortress was destroyed."

"Fortress?"

"Yeah, in the Arctic. It was sort of a replica of my home planet."

"So…you did get to see a little bit of Krytpon, I guess, huh?"

He nods, "I just wish I had appreciated it more while it was there," he says, and seeing the quizzical look she's giving him, continues, "Part of that whole resentment thing I told you about."

"Ah…don't know what you got til it's gone, right?"

"Basically."

"What was it like?"

He looks at her for a moment, trying to find the right words to describe it, when it occurs to him that he doesn't have to.

"You know. You've been there."

"Um, I think I'd remember being in the Arctic in some Fortress that looks like another planet."

"You were…after the plane crash you and my mom survived."

She leans back against the sofa, her eyes gazing off into the distance as she thinks back to that time. Suddenly, she looks at him with amazement.

"The palace of ice?" she whispers.

He just smiles in confirmation.

"_That_ was your Fortress? I thought I died and went to heaven. I guess I died and went to Krypton…or a reasonable facsimile anyway," she says with a lilting laugh.

It wasn't until she said that that he realized how much that thought meant to him. How much it had meant to him since she had confided it to him in the hospital, even if she didn't understand fully at that moment the implication of what she was saying.

His Kryptonian home was her heaven.

As she always did, Lois once again made him look at things, in this case the Fortress, in a different way. And suddenly he misses it all the more. In that moment, he makes a silent vow to himself to revisit it, and see if anything can be done to restore it.

"You said it was in the Arctic?"

Her words snap him out of his thoughts.

"Was being the operative word, but yeah. Why?"

"It's just that…you'd think I would have been freezing. But I wasn't. I felt warm. Safe. I knew I was gonna be alright. I mean, I know I was kinda out of it but, I was conscious enough to realize I was in a palace of ice, you'd think I would have felt the cold."

As he takes in her words, it strikes him that that very thought had quietly nagged at him since she had first told him years ago.

The feelings she described, they didn't make sense. Though the cold didn't affect him, it _should_ have affected her. Especially with the already weakened condition she had been in.

After all, she was human. He had seen firsthand how the cold of the Arctic had almost killed Chloe. He could still picture her shivering and calling for him to help her. She would have died had he not defied Jor-El…

And then it hit him.

He looks at Lois, his eyes widening, as the full force of the realization dawns on him.

Jor-El had protected her.

He had given her warmth. He had made her feel safe.

He had watched over her.

And in that moment, despite all the issues he'd had with Jor-El over the years, Clark knew beyond the shadow of a doubt.

His father had done that for _him_.

For his future.

In one swift move, slightly startling Lois, Clark reaches out and grabs the black box off the table.

As he hands it to her, he utters one simple, yet absolute, phrase.

"It's yours."

She looks at him strangely for a moment, then arches an eyebrow.

"Am I actually gonna get to open it this time?"

He shrugs, grinning. "I had a few things I needed to tell you first."

"A _few_? That might be the understatement of the year, Smallville," she says, before turning her attention to the box. She slowly lifts the lid, her mouth opening in a silent 'oh' as the silver and turquoise bracelet comes into view.

"Wow," she says breathlessly, and Clark can't help but smile at her reaction.

"You like it?"

"Like it? I know I'm not usually all girly about jewelry and stuff but damn, Smallville, this is gorgeous. It's so…unique. Different. It's …perfect," she finishes softly, allowing her fingers to gently graze the silver band. Her fingers grasp it and she lifts it from the box, slowly slipping it on her wrist.

The moment the band settles onto her skin, a small light begins to emanate from the turquoise stone in the center. It lasts for only a few moments, moments both Clark and Lois are watching with complete fascination. When it fades, etched lightly in the center of the stone is a symbol.

"What is that?" Lois asks, still awed by what she'd seen.

Taking her hand, Clark looks down at the symbol.

"It's a Kryptonian symbol," he answers softly, his finger gently running over it. He lifts his eyes to hers, a breathtaking smile now gracing his lips.

"What does it mean?" she asks, looking at him expectantly.

Reaching out, he cups her cheek tenderly, drawing her closer to him. He leans toward her, and the moment before his lips meet hers in a passionate kiss, he whispers the answer she's waiting for.

"Destiny."

Yes, there had been times in his life when Clark Kent had hated the word 'destiny'.

But in this moment, when he was holding the embodiment of that word in his arms?

He couldn't think of any word more beautiful.

The End


End file.
